


Firebugs

by Tolo_loe



Category: Team Fortress 2
Genre: Body Image, Comfort No Hurt, Established Relationship, Gen, Help, I Don't Even Know, I'm Bad At Tagging, Nonbinary Character, Original Character(s), Other, Romance, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-15
Updated: 2020-09-20
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:40:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,492
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25920724
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tolo_loe/pseuds/Tolo_loe
Summary: We all need a little Blessing.
Relationships: RED Pyro/Original Character(s)
Kudos: 7





	1. Infestation

**Author's Note:**

> Okay hi, welcome to the thunder dome. I wrote this over a 4 day period so there shouldn't be too many errors. And if there is, i probably wont fix it til later lmao.

A slow, dry drive was made up to the old clattered phone booth. The deserts scorching heat rained down, threatening to melt anything to bone if they stayed long enough. The willingness to cook through anything, the meager distane the sun had on this planet, the reflections it gave was of ill intentions: pure as day.

But the people who lived on this tiny polluted, orb was born into a mirrored fraction of loathing desire. Passion made the box hot to the touch as the mechanical parts and wires threatened to melt together. The man at the box entered the change and dialed numbers known through repetition. He felt the warmed plastic of the dial pad as he punched them in. 

Waiting for the phone to ring and pick up, he glanced at the decorations this box has received. All old, faded even from the relentless sun. There was a heavy breeze that pillowed through the dusty air. It rustled the notes about until the hope induced note fluttered off into the air. The man caught it and took a look at it. 

This note was newer, less sun-washed. It was yellow and folded in half. It looked like it was torn off a diner order pad. On the front there were the letters R, E and D. written in bold black ink. On the inside there was written words but his call went through before he could read it with half a mind. He quickly tucked it into his pocket and went ahead with his call to his parents. 

When he arrived back at the base from his monthly drive to that phone box he quickly scavenged his pocket to pull out that note. He went into the back of his small R.V. and sat down in his worn booth. He unfolded the note, reading it to himself:

"'Excitement! Coming Soon! I hope this note has found proper hands, or should I say mind. Flattery! -Blessing.'" There was a crude beetle drawn next to the name.

The sharpshooter was at a loss for words, not knowing what to think. Should he tell someone about it or keep it to himself? The notes' scribbled words signified rush, like it was written by a borrowed pen. He folded it back up and placed it into his back pocket, leaving his R.V.

He went to the door he always went to to get into the base, just in a small nook a little ways away from where his R.V. was stationed. He made his way through the building and just wandered. He didn't know where to start, all he had to go on was a name to ask people. 

Sniper pulled out the note again from his pocket and sighed. He might as well start with more dignified people. 

He knew who just to start with.

Engineer was tinkering with his sentry when a knock at the labs door was heard. He wiped his hands with a cleaner towl he had on hand and went to open his workshop door. 

There stood an awkward Sniper at his door. "Oi, you got a minnit, mate?"

"Sure thing, why don't ya come in and have a seat." Engineer stood to the side and allowed the man to enter.

Sniper took to the office chair near the desk. He fiddled with his vest for a bit as Engineer came and stood infront of him at the workbench in the middle of the room. 

"So," Sniper started. "I went up to call, roight, at the box. But there was a note that flew by, and it looked a bit iffy so I nicked the sucker." 

Sniper pulled out the note and handed it to the Engineer and continued. "Ya reckon ya know the name?"

He examined the note and paused. "I've known a lot of Blessings in my time, boy. But I don't recognize the handwritin'. You reckon I keep this for a bit to check with Pyro, just in case?"

"Oi can shoot through this one for ya, yeah." Sniper nodded and got up to leave.

Engineer spoke up again, stopping Sniper before he left. "Why you so caught up in findin' this mystery person?"

"To see if this is a furphy, mate. I'd be delighted to know if it is or not." With that, Sniper was off to his camper van again.

Shooting across the sky there was a lonely comet, fast and blue. It's ice trail falling behind it like a parachute catching the air slowing down its doom. Stars glitter across the sky, peaking through the atmosphere wanting to see down upon the cool, soft, sandy earth. Endless miles of light rain down, barely enough to illuminate the ground below. 

The wind blew on by, pushing along clouds of dust like if it were turning over a pillow. The plants scattered throughout the desert rustled, waving hello to the stranger that walks past. Footstep upon footstep, sandy soil crunching beneath their boots. Only the howls of the earth can be heard as they walk; No crickets, no owls, no birds, no snakes. 

The moon whispers in the sky, saying hello to the comet, releshing the sight of another astral being passing by yet again. The moon stands proud as the light it reflects shines ever so brightly upon the millions trying to compete in the observance of the planet. 

The stranger looks up at the proudly smiling moon, passing a thoughtful wish of ever longevity along. 

Life is truly a blessing. 

Days go by, and no word from anyone. Nobody knew who Blessing was. He tried asking Miss Pauling as a last resort yesterday after their briefing on a short takedown mission about three towns away. She didn't know but she eould look into it, as she remarked that it was quite strange. Sniper told himself that he shouldn't get too involved in this mystery as to preserve his work ethic but now he's being reprimanding himself for taking a second longer than he needed to to take the fucking shot. This was burning him to the core.

That was until there was a certain firestarter knocking at his camper vans door. 

Sniper shuffled slowly towards the door. He reached for the latch and opened it until he could see Pyro and then he saw Engineer. The tension in his body relaxed a little as he opened the door fully. 

"G'day." Sniper said, mostly to the Engineer. He still wasn't all buddy-buddy with Pyro even after this long.

"Howdy. Sorry to bother ya but Pyro here knows about this mystery person. Thought we would swing on by to tell ya that." Engineer smilled a little bit, scratching at the back of his neck. "To be completely honest here, all he did was screech and then drag me here."

Sniper looked over to Pyro and saw them physically shaking, albeit with excitement, anticipation or anger. Pyro began to talk, muffled words falling through the mask at an absurd rate while their hands frantically gestured. They then looked to Sniper for answers. 

Engineer shook his head, "He wants to know if you have gotten any other notes after the first one."

Pyro shook their fists up and down infront of themself, giddy. Sniper's eyebrows furrowed a little at the display. 

"Give me a moment." Sniper retreated to find the note that was taped to his camper vans door earlier that day.

He came back and handed it to Pyro who squealed with muffled emotion. Pyro took to reading it. Engineer chuckled at this odd behavior.

This time the note was on a blank piece of paper, folded up into thirds. It read as follows:

"'I knew it would find you! Well, not you exactly but you I'm talking about knows now! I will arrive shortly. All means well when it's necessary! Hope to re-meet you soon, as I sent wishes through moon. Flesh upon melting flesh. Stars upon other collapsing stars. How exciting! -Blessing'" 

There was a drawing of a moon underneath the paragraph with various bugs surrounding the bottom of the paper. A unicorn was drawn facing inwards on both the top left and right corners.

Pyro smooshed the letter out on their chest, hugging it almost. They tilted their head upwards to the sky and did a little happy leg jig before zooming off to the base. Engineer and Sniper just looked at the manic man before collecting themselves from the sight of the odd behavior. 

"Well then. I guess whoever this Blessing character has him rilled up." Engineer chuckled. 

"Must be. Those notes are so decrepit," Sniper said, nodding. He looked to Engie, "You want a cuppa?"

For the next few days, Pyro skipped along the base's hallways anytime they went anywhere, humming a tune, dragging Blessing's note along with them. In battle, Pyro would take time to join Sniper up where he perched and kill anybody heading his way. That was their way to thank him for the notes. In off-time, Pyro would spend more out in the mess hall, drawing the same two people with crayons while singing muted songs from the radio. 

Pyro began to become happier and happier with each passing day, waiting for a third note to slip through the door. They couldn't keep their anxious excitement to themself which led to patrolling the entire exterior at the base until it was dark. They would climb up onto roofs at night to look at the moon, hearing it whispering to them sweetly.

The third note didn't come in the form of something given from a passing of hand to alert the arrival. It came word of mouth, by none other than Miss Pauling herself. 

She had stopped by in tangent to business she had to take care of but she managed to get more info on this Blessing person for Sniper. She called for him after the business meeting was through and handed him the file for him to skim.

There wasn't much in the file, as it seems as if burnt throughly, only leaving the basic description captioned with a photo papercliped to the charred paper. Blessing Tavitian Domingo, 36. Tall, fit, Armenian women. Certainly a charmer by the looks of things. 

Sniper looked at the over-exposed photo before taking it into his hand and desplaying it to Miss Pauling. "This is who keeps on sending the notes?"

Miss Pauling smiled gingerly, "Yes, it would certainly seem so."

Sniper had taken the photo and looked at it once again. _"Her?"_

Miss Pauling motioned for him to turn the photo over. His eyes widened underneath his aviators. 

"'Hello! I take you think for me. Flattery! Be here in three days. Stand out front with sun's fire. Red sky does wonders for skin. -Blessing'" There was a doodle of a bug roasting a marshmallow on a campfire.

He snapped his neck back to Miss Pauling. Sniper didn't know what to say, his mouth full of cotton. 

"We found that little note of her's when the fire alarm went off. She must've burned her papers right before she disappeared." Miss Pauling said, taking the file back but leaving the note in Sniper's hand. "A marvel that woman is."

Miss Pauling walked off to leave, but turned before leaving. "That was written two days ago, you better tell Pyro."

"Roight, thanks."

Sniper has tracked down Pyro, who happened to be hanging out next to Scout. They were watching something on the television. Sniper coughed, holding out the photo for Pyro to take. 

Once Pyro had noticed the note, they quickly took it and stared at the woman smiling beneath the mask. They flipped it over quickly and read the note outloud. Snuffed emotion was blasted out of the mask's filter while the lenses fogged up from inside. Scout looked over to Pyro tracing the letters on the small polaroid.

"What'd you give mumbles? A love letter?" Scout prodded.

"Sorta," Sniper smiled a little when Pyro turned the photo over again.

Scout got a glance at the woman's photograph. He leaned in more, mouth open. "Whose the broad?"

Pyro smacked Scout hard in the shoulder and stood, muffled yelling at him. They then stormed off to their quarters.

"She's the critter's bird." Sniper said, receiving a look of disbelief.

The sky took a lingering look on this part of the planet and sighed a great sigh, the wind rusting through the west. A lone cloud passed being carried like a baby to bed in it's mother's arms. That warm breath soothing the little soul, bu-bump bu-bump bu-bump of shared connection. 

Pyro stood outside in the gravel driveway of the RED base staring off into the horizon. The sun was just beginning to say goodbye, slowly diving to the horizon. The golden light shone down, warm and radiant like a campfire on a cool summer night. They held hand-picked wild flowers, giddy and waiting for their Blessing. 

Pyro stared and stared as the sun went lower and lower. They breathed slowly counting the seconds that pass by. 

"What's it doin' out there?" Scout nudged Engineer.

The Texan stood at the window with his sharp shooting colleague sipping a bottle of cheep beer.

"Is it waitin' on somethin'?" Scout tried again and was met with silence. 

The two men knew who was coming and watched along with Pyro to see if she would actually come. They were just as quiet as their fire-blasting friend. 

The sky turned to an orange color as Sniper decided to go out and join Pyro in waiting. He didn't know if this woman would actually show up or not, and that thought was gut wrenching. Engie soon found his way outside. The sun fell farther and turned red. 

Pyro hitched their breath. They're frozen in time, gripping the flowers tightly, waiting. Wanting. Seeing. 

A figure peeked out behind a cluster of rocks out in the distance and waved. It shouted. The sky grew less red overtime as the figure grew closer and closer, the shouting becoming more noticeable and decipherable.

"Hey!"

Pyro began to breathe again, began to move again and waved vigorously. The two men by their side froze.

"Oi cant believe it." Sniper said while rubbing his hands down his face, "Roight outta the bush."

Engie dropped his beer bottle onto the ground and quickly ran back inside.

The woman was right here now, sprinting like mad straight towards them, laughing. Pyro squealed and ran just as hard with their arms spread towards Blessing. They collided in a hug, the Pyro picking up the woman and spinning her around then the woman picking up the Pyro and spinning them around the other way. Blessing took the bouquet of flowers from their hands and pinched the cheek of the gas mask.

Pyro pointed to Sniper and she looked over. Blessing leaned over and whispered something to Pyro and Pyro nodded their head vigorously. 

They both were stared at Sniper and then charged at him. Sniper, startled, ran out of the way. Pyro and Blessing curved both of their arms to catch the bushman and pull him back into a hug. Sandwiched between both Blessing and Pyro, he struggled to get out. 

"Oi, let go of me you buggars!" Sniper wiggled about. 

"Bullet man," Blessing spoke out, snickering. "We wish to make peace!"

Pyro agreed, his voice rumbled through his suit. The rifleman could feel the vibrations on his back.

"But first!" Blessing pulled away slightly, becoming face to face with the trapped man, grinning from ear to ear, "I wish to meet properly."

"What in Sam's Hill..?" Engineer said, catching attention. He had brought a water bottle along with him.

"Ah!" Blessing broke away from Sniper walking over to the Engineer, swooping down to hug the man. She broke away after Engie had given her an awkward back pat and pointed to the water bottle, "Jiri shish, for me?"

Engineer nodded as Blessing smiled a genuine, tireless smile. It wasn't out if pity or expectation, it was unfiltered kindness. He stared at her features as he handed her the water; she was beautiful. 

Thick and brown square eyebrows that made her small eyes pop like embers flicking off charred wood. Her high cheekbones were littered with freckles with one prominent beauty mark on the right. Plump lips with fairly straight teeth underneath a strong nose, red from the sun. Her dimples prominent in her sunkissed skin.

Her braided hair lined her sharp features from both sides, falling on either shoulder. A nice chesnut brown with natural sienna highlights. She was reminiscent of a summer's night bonfire. Blessing had already turned from him, water now half empty. 

"Firefly," She called out, her accent thick and her voice sultry.

Pyro went over to embrace her again, this time more sweetly, more intimately. Blessing, taller than Pyro, had her arms around their waist as they had theirs on her shoulders. Whispering was exchanged, too quiet for others to hear, but lovely nonetheless. 

Engineer looked away to Sniper, too embarrassed to look any further, it wasn't his right to look at the sight. Sniper fixed his crumpled clothes, muttering to himself. He looked back up, eyes falling onto the pair and immediately looking to Engie with a strained look. 

The texan motioned his head over to the door and slipped off into the building, Sniper soon followed, both going into the commons. 

The pair didn't take heed to them leaving, just continued to embrace in the setting sun. The sky grew darker and darker until stars twinkled, saying a wordless hello. They grew to be more prominent, the millions staring down onto the cooling sand. They looked and looked and looked, feeding into the emotion pooling from the two entities intertwined. 

The moon rose slowly above, whispering the promises of yesterday, love, yearning, envy, distane, exhaustion, overwhelming joy, and the evidence of distance between. All harmless, all standard for a night apart. 

It was not prepared to endure such a strong spectacle, however. Not tonight. The feeling of a burning passion of such a connection: intensely overwhelmed. It boring into the moon's surface, flashing waves over it's craters and dunes, over the plain waterless seas of grey and grassless fields. The feeling if raw unaltered wholeness. 

Pyro loosened their grip once they'd felt the shiver run through their other. The wind whistling through the mask as they pulled away. The woman infront of them lingering her touch, not wanting to let go just yet. Pyro took her hand and led her through the door to the building much to the moon's appreciation. 

They arrived in the commons where most of their comrades sat in conversation. The men quickly began to quiet their shouting once they've noticed the pair appear. 

Blessing's grip was unfaltering, fingers interlocked into Pyro's grime layered gloves. She wasn't sure if they could feel her grip through them, but she did not tighten it. The warmth seeping through slightly was all the comfort she needed to. Her gaze pried from her hold on her other's hand in hers and was met with five men. 

Two she could recognize from her arrival, but the other three were newer. One was a younger looking man, dressed in brown slacks, loose socks, and a tucked in tee with the sleeves rolled up to his shoulders, dog tags resting on his chest. He stared with the impression of a young buck, frozen in headlights. 

The second had what she recognized as a balaclava upon his face, hiding his hair but outlining his sharp features. He was dressed sharper, being the most formal in the room. His suit slightly wrinkled from the way he was sitting with a cigarette between his second and third finger barely away from his face as if he was about to take a drag. He looked of an eagle but his eyes said mouse. 

And the third, he blatantly stared. His demeanor was lighthearted though. He wore a long sleeved shirt and the same brown pants as the youth. He had a bottle of alcohol in his hand, but he had slowly placed it down slowly as it was going to startled her. He had an eyepatch that radiated something enigmatic underneath; haunting, daunting, _/refreshing_.

Blessing smiled, her eyes taking time to cycle to each of their gazes. It was a small smile, but a wordlessly meaningful one. She lingered on the darker man's gaze though, dragging it over to his eyepatch, trying to read what kind of magnetic force within. 

She pulled herself away though, looking back to her other and squeezed their hand. She could feel the outline as the rubber squeaked from the motion. Pyro pulled themself to lead them down the hall, tired of watching of how much his colleagues were staring. Blessing smiled brighter, waving back to the men before she could no longer see them.

The five men sat in silence as the smiling woman was led around the corner. The heard a brief giggle before a door was slammed shut down the hall. An eternity followed, as they looked to one another. Sniper and Engineer less frazzled than the other three.

The silence was broken with a sigh of exasperation. " _Mon dieu _."__

__

"Who da hell was that?" Scout had turned to his less shocked colleagues. 

__

Sniper breathed in his nose and rubbed his hand on his face, trying to put the words together. "You rememba the photo mate?" 

__

Scout's jaw dropped. "You're tellin me that her and that thing-- No way that's her!" 

__

"Wha' photo lad? Ye better not be hidin a nudie, especially of that drink." Demo said loudly. 

__

Engineer shook his head, " Ain't anythin' like that, the critter just received a note from her." 

"Miss Pauling had a hand it in," Sniper said. "Oi thought it was a bit crude myself but if the boss made me deliver it myself betta not question it, roight mate?" 

"So you're tellin me that Pyro gets to bring chicks home but not the rest of us?" Scout protested. 

"Now now, we do not know much about ze Pyro, but it iz clear ze mademoiselle does." Spy stopped Scout right in his tracks. "The cheri might be ze key to understanding that monstrosity." 

He took a drag out of cigarette and flicked the ashes off to the side, "Besides, having such a treasure around might not be zat bad, especially on ze eyes." 

Demo took his drink and sat back, smiling. "The lass sure is a looker." 

__"Darn tootin'."_ _

Pyro gently shook their hand out of hers. They reached for the lock on the door to their quarters and unlocked it. The door opened and they reached over and slung Blessing over their shoulder, absolutely loving the giggle that erupted from her. They closed the door and locked the latch quickly, turning and then setting Blessing down on the bed. 

The look on her face setting Pyro's heart ablaze with tremendous joy. Her hands reached over to their mask and slowly crawled along to the edge where it met with the suit, stopping as her fingers hooked underneath. Her words were soft, almost to soft to be heard through the mask. 

_"Let me see you."_

Pyro's gloves ran up her arms to her hands, rubbing their thumbs against them, pulling them from their mask. They stood back, moving to shut the shades and turn on the lamp, the orange light cascading over everything. Pyro took off their gloves, it being easier to take off the mask this way. They pulled the mask up and over their face, it making a subtle 'pop' sound, and placed them where they put their gloves. 

Scarred hands made their was down to the suit's zipper, undoing it, slipping out of it boots and all, like a shell. Pyro looked back to their woman, she was tearing up in adoration. She stood and made her way over, gentle hands placed feathery touches on their shoulders and down their arms all the way to hold their hands, interlacing them once again. 

The feeling of uneven skin so utterly apparent, mounds of pure smooth skin mixed with fuzzy pale. Blessing took her time dragging one of their arms closer, kissing light kisses against her other's mangled skin. First on their knuckles, then the back of their hand, their wrist, their forearm, upper arm. their shoulder, their neck, collar bone, their jawline, their face, cheeks and nose. Over their eye and forehead, leading down in reverse for the other side all the way down to their palm and fingertips. She pulled away only to lean into Pyro's cracked lips. 

Blessing was oh-so gentle with them. She knew how uncomfortable they are out of the suit, being exposed like this to others, having to be vulnerable and open to touches and sounds. Her lips were all the same, gentle, ever so gentle, as to not scare them away. Pyro leaned into her, taking their hands and placing them onto her face. Her skin was overpoweringly warm like molten lava. It was nice, it was comforting, it was familiar. 

Their lips danced a small boxed waltz, wrapping arms around her neck to pull her closer. Pyro wanted more of her warmth, it was too drafty now in the room. At first it was like a breath of fresh air to their skin, but eventually their body cooled down too much, the air too much of a breath. Too cold. 

Blessing pressed back, circling her arm around Pyro's torso, keeping them close. She lent into their touch greedily, she was so happy to have them back. Their lips danced and danced and danced, burning into eachother, searing the feeling into the other's. 

The kiss had to end, as they stole the breathe out of one another. Pyro chased after her lips, wanting more of her. Blessing pressed her hands into their sides, feeling the white undershirt they wore. Her warm hands radiating warmth into her partner. 

They stood there together, looking into one another. One an ember flame, embracing, burning. The other, a beautiful burning log, passionate and ever-burning. Wordless; eternal. 


	2. Incubation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bit of a nsfw tag on this, just slight groping and implied shower sex.
> 
> Scout discovers something about Blessing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if the wording is bad i am in the process of learning another language and my brain is in a kerfuffle lmao.
> 
> Also a reminder-- words surrounded by these: [word] are meant to be in Armenian!

The early morning sun cascades down through the barred window, slapping face first into the closed dark curtains. Unable to see, unable to pass, the light regroups, pulling back to see if there was any sliver, any possible way of passing, no matter how small of an entrance. It spots no such thing, rushing back into the curtain to warm, to beat against and cook the color out.

Behind the closed curtains, behind the locked doors, the two beings in the room held onto eachother under blankets to encapsulate every essence of them. They hold onto the other like they were going to disappear, wanting nothing more than to feel the other's skin against their own for the rest of their lives.

It was peaceful when Pyro woke up, clutching Blessing to their chest unconsciously. They haven't slept that good in years. Half a decade almost now, that they have been without that sort of luxury. Pyro has been without human touch, real skin to skin touch, for half a decade. Half a decade without their lover, without their other half. She was here now, in their arms.

They moved strands of Blessing's messy bedhead from her face, the braids from yesterday no longer present. Pyro gazed upon her sleeping features, heart burning with a sensation of overwhelming enchantment. They kissed her forehead and slipped out of her warm embrace, careful not to wake her. They paused, stretching, joints popping underneath their nude skin, and a soft groan of satifaction escaped their lips.

Light passed itself underneath the door, spreading itself along the floorboards in the room until it faded back into the darkness. Pyro tip-toed to the closet, fetching clothing to wear underneath their rubber suit. Slipping on underwear, they heard the sheets rustle and a giggle then a sigh.

"[Come back to bed.]" Soft armenian words came from the woman in bed.

Pyro pulled on their pants, turning to her to put on the shirt. They smiled softly, "[I want to, but I have to get ready to work.]"

"[Then let me get ready with you.]" She slipped out of bed, bare bodied, and fixing the sheets so the bed was made.

Glancing at the naked woman, Pyro slipped on socks and into the suit as Blessing scavenged for her underwear and clean clothes. 

Blessing cycled through the hangers of hung up clothing, "[Do you have a robe?]" 

"[Back of the closet.]" Pyro pulled on his gloves as she found it.

There was yelling, a banging on the door, the handle jiggled and it moved on. Blessing let out a little gasp, being startled at the morning intrusion. Pyro went to put on their mask, but was stopped for a moment by a kiss catching their lips. Hasty, but quick and full of love. They smiled, their scar riddled face soon disappearing under the mask.

Blessing was now in a robe a bit too above the knee for company, but was covering the essentials along with an oversized grey shirt that Pyro had since forever. She could recognize the stain from pasta night near the flayed edge. The two exited the door not even a minute later, clothed, walking hip to hip to the kitchen, relishing the comfortable feeling. 

Pyro led her to the dining table and sat her down, rubbing a gloved hand over hers, wishing that they didn't have them on. They left to get coffee for her, entering the kitchen to see Engineer finishing up the last bit of breakfast he cooked for who would have it. Sausage and eggs. 

The coffee maker beeped, letting everyone know that it was ready to be served. Pyro searched for a cup, grabbing the sugar, then poured and stirred. They brought the cup out to Blessing who was currently being ogled by the men in the room. There were only three currently, but still.

She turned from Pyro's teammates light conversation and took cup as they sat down next to her, smilling a thank you. She was not here for them, she was here for Pyro. 

She drank, "Is perfect, [thank you.]"

Pyro scooted the chair closer to her, placing their gloved hand onto her exposed thigh, shoulder touching her's. She smiled at the act of possessiveness into her cup, giggling. The rubber felt a bit strange on her skin.

Engineer came in with the food, taking one look at Blessing before breaking through the murmuring in the room. "Ah reckon you two had a fun night last night."

"Very." Blessing said and put down her cup, flicking the dripping coffee off. 

Pyro squeezed her thigh as the rest of the mercs trickled in, herding to the smell of breakfast. 

"Who is voman?" Heavy sat down with his plate full towards the end of the table. He didn't wish to intrude but he was still curious. 

"She's Pyro's girlfriend." Scout scoffed out, sitting infront of Heavy. "She just showed up out of nowhere last night. Literally."

She waved a small wave at the man, "My name is Blessing."

"Aye, lass, aren't you going to eat," Demo said, sitting across from them, Spy joining him a chair apart. The rest eventually filtered in, excluding maybe a man or two, Sniper in his van and Medic in his clinic.

Blessing sat back in her chair a sneer creeping up onto her face as she sipped on her coffee. Pyro took notice and muffled out, disagreeing, taking their hand off her thigh. 

"Already. Ate." She said emphasizing both words as if they were their own sentence. She drank her coffee as Pyro but their head in their hands groaning and a howling laughter came out of Heavy from down the table. She laughed at the less than stellar reaction of her dirty joke. The men choked over their food in disbelief rather than laughter. 

"A jest, I jest!" Blessing readjusted herself in her chair. "American standards are so... how you say; kooky? Different standards, for men and for women. Jest for this, not for this."

"Well, ladies like yourself don't usually talk like that here." Engineer offered. "They rather leave that to the boys to squander."

"Pah!" She set down her cup. 

The dining hall became silent, the sound of the irredecent lights flickering from above filtered through the men eating breakfast, waking up from their morning, thinking their morning thoughts. She glanced to Pyro, who was antsy in their seat. She took their gloved hand and squeezed reassuringly. They squeezed back, but then pointed to their wrist. 

"[Time?]" She murmured. 

Pyro nodded, leaning in close enough for her to hopfully hear through the mumbles. "[It's almost time for work. The sirens are usually loud, so don't worry when they come on.]" 

Blessing shook her head, finishing her coffee. She got out of the chair, pulling Pyro along with her to the kitchen, placing the mug in the sink. She stepped back, only to be startled by how close Pyro actually was. They pressed themself into her, reaching around and pulling off one of their gloves, exposing the large scar that covered it. They ran the hand up her body, making her shiver, resting their palm on her chin, their fingers scraping at her teeth and entered her mouth when Pyro pawed at her thigh, making her gasp. A ravenous kiss placed at her neck, teeth biting at skin.

Loud and blaring, the fingers were gone as fast as they entered as well as Pyro's pressurized touch, leaving Blessing alone in the kitchen while the rest diluted down to echoing footsteps clobbering on the floorboards leading away. She had wiped her chin with the shirt she had borrowed, alone at the sink in the kitchen. Unattended, she decided to wander, to explore. She walked along hallways, into any unlocked room to see what they were, mapping and charting out so she wouldn't get lost. 

Blessing found the shower room eventually, the room mainly open, nothing to hide her if someone were to come in besides a little waist-high divider that made up each stall. No spare soap around, no towels, no shampoo, nothing to clean herself with. She turned to exit the dark tiled room, only to note the lock on the door last minute. She will just have to join Pyro later to shower.

Hours of exploring, waiting, and basically not doing nothing but laying down in Pyro's bed, she heard the loud chatter from down the hall. She glanced to the window, the day looked at the end of its hours. The chatter passed by the door, down the hall, to the infirmary. The door opened to reveal Pyro holding a pair of sweatpants with drawstrings out for Blessing to take. 

She quickly got up, pulling the pants on and removing the robe from around her shoulders. The pants fit well, not needing to be adjusted. Blessing followed them down the hall to see the team lined up, sitting on the plastic chairs that sat against the wall just outside of the Medbay's doors. They all had injuries, some worse than others. Demo and Soldier had broken bones, them clearly visible. Scout had a few bullet wounds, Heavy and Engineer had stab wounds, Sniper had a broken nose and Spy had a combination of slashes and holes. 

Pyro held Blessing's hand tight as they eased themselves into a chair for themself. Blessing couldn't see any physical damage besides the glass of their gas mask was shattered in one eye. The men talked cheerily despite their conditions, sharing what they had accomplished earlier in what they called a 'match.' Blessing looked into the mask's broken lense, seeing the eye of her other with a pained look. 

"[This is what I do, this is what we do, for work.]" The muffle of his broken voice was reduced, the sound allowed to escape through the mask, albeit just higher than usual. Even though they didn't speak in English, Scout glanced over at the marred sound Pyro produced. "[I can't tell you much, but we fight an endless war. They use technology to revive us, to keep us as healthy and alive.]"

Blessing nodded, glancing at the other men, a few were already picked off, leaving the chairs empty. She did not sit.

The bleeding voice broke through silence, making itself present to the few that had less serious injuries, "Here we go round the prickly pear, prickly pear, prickly pear."

"At five o'clock in the morning," she hummed, not completely sure if they were completely sane right now. She knew of he other's spouts of insanity, the grip they held on reality wasn't completely stable.

Time passed and finally Sniper came out of the infirmary, letting the two know that Pyro could go in and get checked out. Blessing hauled her other up, helping them through the door and onto the operating table where the med-gun was set up. Pyro looked uncomfortable being in this room, arms inward to themselves and hunched over. She remembered that they never really liked doctors. 

Medic came over, smiling as friendly as he could, "Now, vhat do we have here, hm?"

Pyro pulled off their gloves, rolling up and off their mask. Their half charred face bleeding as bits of glass stuck into their skin and eye. They wheezed sitting back, grunting in pain. Blessing was staring at the pyromaniac, half shocked. She sat with the realization that they took off the covering around the doctor. Though, she supposed that since he was a doctor, they were to trust him with their identity in dangerous work. 

"Is zhere any ozher shrapnel to worry about?" Medic asked mentioning to their torso. Pyro shook their head.

"Vell zhen I'll just remove the glass and pozition the med-gun to jour torso and ve'll be on our way!" Medic explained, already pulling tweezers from the medical tray. 

Blessing just watched as he worked, plucking the glass from their skin, wiping the wound with disinfectant soaked cloth. The hum of red beam swelled and danced around Pyro's torso, making them relax out of relief, face softening from being uncomfortable. When Medic pulled the last piece of glass from Pyro's face out of their eye. The piece was small, yet it pierced the sclera, making their entire eye red. 

Medic placed the tweezers down, stood and adjusted the med-gun to blast at their face, closing the open wounds, clearing up the eye. 

"Jour lucky the glass didn't hit anything important." Medic hummed as the healing process finished up. He fetched another insert to replace the broken eyeglass of the mask.

Pyro sat up, taking the spare. They replaced the old one, unscrewing and throwing it away. They re-screwed the newer one on, placing the mask on once again. Blessing was a little sad to see her darling disappear once again.

"Jou know," The medic's accent brought her attention to him. "There is miles of desert around, at this base."

"Yes, there is." Blessing fiddled with the sleeve of the cream colored robe.

"Can jou guess why?" Medic turned to Blessing, his face stone cold. When he didn't receive and answer from the woman he continued, "To not be found."

Blessing nodded, her eyebrows furrowed. "People can always find."

"Sometimes it's best for some people not to be found."

Pyro stood up by this point, gently grabbing at her hand, that was now radiating heat from it like a preheated oven. It was nice to feel the warmth through the glove, they thought. 

Blessing was led through the medbay doors and back into Pyro's room. The door closed and they locked it once more. Blessing sat at the end of the small bed, it dipping in slightly. Pyro removed the gloves and lifted their mask off their head. They went to the radio in their room, turning it on low. 

"You get radio way out here?"

"Only certain radios." Pyro went and sat down next to her, the incave they produced dipped her into themselves. "Like this one."

The radio softly played 'Midnight, The Stars and You' by Al Bowily and Ray Noble. The jazz orchestra softly putting itself into a danceable daze. It was softput until vocals came on.

Pyro unzipped their uniform, shimmying it down to their waist. Blessing leaned into them, sighing in contentment against the cooler skin. They sat through two more songs, 'Ain't Misbehaven'' by Fats Waller and 'My Prayer' by The Ink Spots, before Pyro spoke up during commercial. 

They turned their head and kissed the side of Blessing's, whispering into her ear as they spoke. "[Why now? Why come now?]"

"[Because,]" Blessing sucked in her breathe. "[I needed to see you again. It has been too long.]"

There was a silent hum that settled. The radio went to silence, the static fizzing in more. Blessing's body seemed to rise in temperature, her arm becoming almost blistering hot, like holding onto an almost too-hot mug. Pyro moved to lay back onto the cot, plopping down. Blessing joined them, snuggling up to their side. The too-hot warmth was greatly appreciated by the cooling pyromaniac, the sweat turning cold in the air.

Then the radio flicked back on, busting into 'Da Doo Ron Ron' by The Crystals. They sat there for a while, snuggled up into one another, feeling the rising and falling of chests. They'd notice that each of their own hearts have slowed into one, steady beat. Finding solice in one another's company, they just lived in that close moment. They dazed on for what seemed like ten minutes, but in reality had been three hours.

'A Bushel and A Peck' by Doris Day rang through the air when the door was taped against. 

"[Whose there?]" Blessing called out in a daze, her voice a lot more softer than she meant it to be.

"Uh, mumbles, it's Scout." Pyro seemed to turn away from the door, pulling up the covers over their face. Their back was covered by their shirt, so it was fine as long as their arms weren't visible. They waved at her to go open the door.

Blessing got up, opening the door to come face to face with the Scout.

"Oh, uh." Scout seemed surprised to see her open the door. "Hello."

"[Hello.]" She looked at the boyish man infront of her who was just blankly staring at her face. "You need something?"

"Uh right! Right, dinner's ready." He backed off a little, letting there be room in between them. 

"Thank you, I'll tell Pounig." Blessing went to close the door.

"Pow... neg?" Scout questioned. "Is that it's name?"

Blessing stopped and smiled at the frustrated grunt that came from within the room, "A nickname. Roughly translates to [phoenix bird] or what is call... fire birds?"

Pyro groaned out, "If anything, that's you."

Scout's eyes flicked open in an instant, surprised to hear the mangled voice clearly from within. Blessing giggled at the look on the young man's face. This made his cheeks dust pink.

"We'll be out in a bit, go along." Blessing closed the door in his face, leaving him alone in the hallway. 

Scout glided into the mess hall, his mind running a mile a minute. 

"Aye, lad. You look like you've seen a ghost." Demo barked from behind the stove, stirring up some chili. 

Scout sat down on a stool, gripping onto the table infront of him, "Pyro... he talks."

"Of course he does, the mumblings gotta come from somewhere." Demo stopped stirring for a second, "Wait, he?"

"His words were all garbled and stuff." Scout's voice was low, "I heard it from inside."

Demo pulled out nine bowls, the sour cream and some cheese. "Bloody hell, did you see it's face?"

Scout shook his head, "Shouldn't you pull a bowl out for the chick as well? Y'know manners to a nice lady and all."

The pair left the room, making their way to the chatty mess hall. They slipped through the room to the kitchen to grab food. Pyro seemed to become more grabby by the minute, their hands constantly on Blessing. She scooped chilli for the both of them, the two matching maroon bowls filled and dressed with cheese, one with sour cream and one without. 

They came back out, Blessing in the lead as she had both of the steaming bowls in each of her hands. Pyro was behind her with their rubber covered gloves on her hip dips, tucked into her protectively. The firestarter saw that Spy, Engie and Sniper glanced at them as they passed, Engie and Sniper paying no mind and continued on, but Spy's eyes seemed to drill into them.

They disappeared from site around the corner, leaving the men to eat once again. But Blessing seemed to pop back up after a few minutes, rushing in more haphazardly. 

"[Spoons, forgot spoons. Spoons, spoons, spoons.]" She mumbled underneath her breathe as she slammed herself through the kitchen doors. There were frantic opening and closing of drawers and then there were the clinking of spoons. 

"Who's playing the spoons?" Scout asked mid-bite, only to see Blessing bust back through the doors. 

Two spoons were tinking away in her hands as she rushed to get back out. It happened almost naturally, the slight flinging of her arm as she just tinked out a simple mark against her other hand infront of her. The men were barely believing their eyes. 

"Bloody hell."

"Spoons?"

Blessing stopped playing at the murmuring, snapping her head towards the eight men. She was doe-eyed, trapped in the spotlight. Her face grew warm. "Forgot... spoons." She said as she rushed off. They could almost see the tiny sparks of flame popping up and off her skin. 

Literally. 

Blessing was pulled into the room almost immediately as she opened it, her other there infront of her in their plain clothes. They sat up a nice, sit across dinner on the floor, the radio whispering some orchestral piece, a tall candle lit inbetween the two bowls. She smilled at the dorkiness of her other, handing them a spoon.

They kissed her briefly, clinking the spoons together before leading her to sit down. 

"So proper," Blessing giggled once Pyro sat down.

She took their hand, kissing their knuckles lightly before dropping it to dig into her food. The music carried them throughout the comfortable silence they shared while eating. It was nice.

"[How long ago was your last meal?]" Pyro paused from eating, expecting her answer patiently. 

Blessing took the bite on her spoon into her mouth before going to count on her hands for her mental math. She looked up at Pyro after a few clearings and recounting, swallowing the chili.

"[Two, maybe three, weeks I'd say. But I've been drinking water, that's all I really need to function. You know this.]"

She was right, they did know this. But that didn't mean that they'd be okay with it. Pyro knew that Blessing was special, that magic seeped within her veins. It needed fuel to work, though, usually from food. Instead of her body taking the nutrients, her fire magic took it and then let the rest of it filter through. 

Her body didn't negate this, allowing her to go weeks, and if she stretched it, even months without a single caloric intake and function like a well-fed person. All she needed was water and she'd be able to survive. Not eating food, though, made her magic weak. So did drinking only water. She needed to eat food for the magic to work, but if she didn't, she would still be fine. 

Pyro didn't like that Blessing starved herself just because she didn't need to eat. They also didn't like that it deprived her of her humanity when she ate too regularly, though. Too much food builds up her magic to the point of it over riding her conciousness, rendering her practically dangerous in every sense of the word. Blessing didn't like using her magic all too much, thus she only ate rarely. 

"[I'll be okay, okay?]" Blessing spoke through her mouth full of chili, "This is really good, I might go back for seconds."

"[Please.]" Pyro smiled, eyes soft on their girlfriend. 

Blessing came out again, two empty bowls in each of her hands as she closed the door behind her. She heard the gentle lock a moment later, taking off to the kitchen. She felt a little livelier, less dead. She was left wanting more of the chili. 

She turned into the mess hall, seeing that some of the men have dissipated to wherever. She ducked into the kitchen, seeing that the chili hasn't been put away yet, and filled her bowl again. She zoomed out to sit at the end of the table, much to the leftover men's surprise. They were playing poker at the other end, already finished eating. 

Blessing glanced up to see Sniper sit in a chair, one over from opposite of her. She smiled at the familiar face. "Ah, Bullet Man."

He returned the smile with a small one, "The name's Sniper."

"Yes, yes. I know." She stuffed her mouth with chili and twirled her spoon around in the air. "[Scopes and rifles.]"

"What?" He looked puzzled. 

Blessing swallowed and laughed to herself, putting down her spoon. "Guns and..." She acted out a scope to the best of her ability. 

Sniper smiled a bit, as it was very strange for him to translate through charades. Most of the non-english foreigners spoke english as a second launguage pretty well. "Eye... tube? Wait, wait, eyeglass... no, eye- scope. A scope?"

"Yes! Gun and scope," she cheered, resuming her meal. "Steady practice. Strong recoil gun."

They resumed eating, the clinking of the sliverwear drowned out by the loudness of the other men. Sniper rolled his eyes as Blessing ignored them. He put his attention back onto her once more, seeing her return from the kitchen with her third serving, though to him, this was her second. 

"Hungry?" He poked as she sat back down.

"Haven't eaten in," She paused, trying to find the word in english, only to put up three fingers, "-weeks."

Sniper's eyebrows scrunched up. She has to be joking, right. Right? Except there was no inclination to a joke here, no buffoonery, no trick. 

"How'd you even get here?" Sniper's bowl was finished by now, set aside so he could talk to this woman who showed up after weeks of notes right out of the desert.

She pushed away her bowl, now done. She had one bowl for every week she'd been without any kind of food. Blessing smiled at his question, leaning over the table, ushering him in closer.

"To tell the truth," she said, her voice low enough only for the sharpshooter to hear, "I used a map. And tiny bit of magic."

Sniper sat back in his chair, back flush against back. His hand has over his forehead, and he was laughing. "You're serious, roight? A map?"

She was still leaning forward somewhat, her hands now tucked underneath her chin. Her grin was even wider. 

"Ms. Pauling was roight, you are a marvel."

Blessing said her goodbye to the man, dismissing herself to go back to Pyro's room. She knocked on the door, hearing the shuffling behind it. The door did not unlock.

"[I had two more bowls before coming back.]"

The door unlocked and opened, and yet again she was whisked in. She giggled as she was pressed against the now locked door, opened mouthed kisses were placed on her neck underneath her sprawling chestnut hair, their hand holding it out of the way.

"[Why were you gone for so long?]" Pyro said in between kisses. More like groaned.

"[I had a conversation with the Sniper. Nothing too big.]"

Blessing pulled them closer to her, moving their head so now she could kiss them properly. The kiss stole their breath away, her nice plump lips too warm for it to be possible, the quick pace marvelously feverish to the pyromaniac. They grappled their scarred hands to anyplace they could, kneading into her breasts and sides, finally making them squeeze onto her ass. She was moaning into their mouth at the touch. 

She laughed as they lifted her, her legs automatically going around their waist. They led her to the bed, pushing her down onto it, grinding into her as she rushed to take off the robe and shirt. Pyro undid her bra for her, throwing it somewhere in the room. 

They immediately attacked her exposed breasts, groping and pulling at her nipples. They put one in their mouth, receiving a small gasp when they bit slightly. They felt her try and grab at any notion of friction, her hips rolling downward. Pyro denied it, pulling away from the writhering woman under them. She whined at the loss of contact. 

"[Shower.]" Pyro said, moving to put on their suit fully, but Blessing stoped them.

"[I have a better idea.]" She said, taking the sheet off the bed.

And there they were, walking down the hall covered in the white sheet. Pyro was wearing their mask, just peeking above so they could direct where to go. A topless Blessing clung to their side underneath the sheet, hunched over and holding two towels, one robe, a shampoo bottle and a bar of soap for the both of them. The lights illuminated them as they snuck through the halls to the shower room. Both of their forms outlined underneath the thin sheet, and bare feet slapped on the wooden floor. 

Pyro laughed under their mask, feeling her hair tickle their side as they continued on. They came to a juncture in the hallway, peeking around to make sure no one was coming before hurrying both of them along around the corner. Pyro stopped abruptly making Blessing stumble a bit. She clutched onto the items tighter, to make sure she was covered just in case the sheet were to fall. 

"Hey chucklenuts, what's up?" There was Scout, coming from behind them and up the hallway. "You headin' to shower? Because maybe I'd figure I could-"

Scout stopped talking as he saw Blessing pop her head up from under the sheet, "Oh."

Blessing smiled at him, Pyro gripping the sheet tighter around them both. "I seem to see you a lot."

"What's with the get-up?" Scout looked to the two huddled together. 

Pyro tried to explain, only getting the mumblings of a madman out. Scout did not understand it, looking from them to the woman expecting a translation. Blessing shook her head and mouthed 'I'm nude.'

"You're what?" Scout leaned in, ear out. 

Pyro moved, bringing her along as she giggled. 

"Aw c'mon, where you goin'?" Scout moved with them until they were near the shower room's door. "Don't be like that."

Pyro turned to him mumbling something presumably to tell Scout off and huffing out soon after. They gently motioned for Blessing to cover her front up before taking the sheet completely around themself. Dark marred feet were exposed as they moved to peek into the shower room.

Blessing backed up to the wall to try and conceal herself more. Scout's jaw dropped at the sight of the woman in the flood length grey sweatpants.

"Oh! I'm sorry, I didn't-" He covered his eyes, turning from the exposed woman. He heard her laugh at his reaction. "Say somethin next time!"

"I'm no good with whispering." She shrugged her bare shoulders. 

Pyro came out of the shower room, motioning for her to come on over. She did, her feet slapping against the floor.

Scout glance back, catching Blessing's bare back as she entered. He saw that her back was littered with tattoos of gorgeous geometry, leading down the midst of her back on her spine. Even though Scout had only grabbed a glimpse, he knew it was nothing like he had ever seen. It was spectacular. 

Scout stood there, staring at the door. The night slowly creeping up on him. He could hear the pipes above him rattle to life, the flowing of water enough to bring life into them. He heard the spraying of water and muffled foreign words and giggles behind the door. It was lively, livelier than the base was most of the time. 

A smile found it's way onto his face, happy to hear that the Pyro was not a complete freak after all. He left from that hall, eventually finding himself in the rec room. He plopped himself down on the well used couch. Its springs croaked out from his weight as he got comfortable. With a deep breath, Scout stared out, his mouth absolutely shut.

His mind wandered off before he passed out from how still he was; women with tattoos are incredible.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> leave it to my brain to start 50 other WIPs without focusing on this story
> 
> Pyro is nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns.  
> That is a little difficult to write so I try and make sure to provide proper context with each sentence. I ended up writing this as Pyro is a MaB.
> 
> I'd like to think that Pyro is also a poc, having darker skin in general. Their scars would be pinkish in color no matter what really, since they're deep an all. The older ones would blend in more, yes, but in general they would noticeable. My own personal interpretation is that Pyro has thick black hair, it being a little longer in general but not too long to need a hair net to hold it back when they put on their mask. They have multiple scars littering their body but congregating more towards the front of them. They are not white. And!! They have freckles littering their shoulders!!!
> 
> Pyro should and will always have freckles in any good interpretation of them.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed the shotty chapter 2!!


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